A day after the byelections, Conservatives keep attacks aimed at Trudeau

The results of Monday night’s byelections — that looked good for Justin Trudeau and the Liberals, and not so good for the Conservative government — has set the stage for a fight between the Liberals and the NDP about who will be a credible alternative to the Conservatives come 2015.

And the government seems to want to keep Trudeau in the spotlight — if only to play him off Thomas Mulcair.

During a Liberal opposition day motion brought forward by Dominic Leblanc Tuesday, which focuses on the Wright-Duffy scandal within the prime minister’s office and will be debated all day, the prime minister’s parliamentary secretary took the opportunity to praise the Leader of the official Opposition for his conduct in question period, for standing up in the House and asking questions day after day, and to blast the Liberal leader for not quite doing the same.

The motion, in light of the RCMP court documents released last week, asks the House of Commons to condemn the alleged activities in the PMO, remind the prime minister of his responsibility for the conduct in his office and bring Stephen Harper to testify under oath at committee about the Wright-Duffy affair.

Paul Calandra, the PM’s parliamentary secretary, wondered aloud why, if the Liberals care so much about the issue they’re bringing forward, their leader Trudeau failed to show up in the House to speak to it.

He questioned whether Canadians care enough about the Senate and about Wright and Duffy for the problem to take up an entire day of debate in the House of Commons.

Canadians, Calandra said, are more concerned about the economy, about public safety and other issues. What this scandal proves, he added, is that the Senate needs to be reformed while, he added, the Liberals — quite unlike the NDP, who’d rather have the thing abolished — are the only party wishing and hoping and pushing for the status quo in the upper chamber.

The Conservatives have put a lot of effort into defining Justin Trudeau and poking holes in the Liberal brand — Tuesday’s debate was no different — which could prove to be an effective way to keep the opposition distracted and opinions among voters divided.

While Mulcair puts on a good show in the House of Commons, Trudeau continues to put on a good show elsewhere. But over the next year and a half, Mulcair’s tactics, as Chantal Hébert has noted, may just serve to “soften Harper up “for Trudeau to finish off — or maybe only beat up a little bit more — in an election campaign.”

Tuesday indicated the Conservatives might be worrying about the same thing.